


The Avengers: Arthurian Style

by twilightHDfan



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Arthur's Arthur but there's a bit of Tony too, F/M, Gwaine's Ridiculously Good Looking Hair, Leon and Morgana are BAMF agents, M/M, Mordred's Just Kind of Misunderstood, Percy just needs to stay calm, Pre-Slash, So's Gwen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-05-30
Updated: 2012-06-24
Packaged: 2017-11-06 06:56:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/416040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twilightHDfan/pseuds/twilightHDfan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Lieutenant Merlin Emrys has to use his magic to save his squadron, he's approached by an Agent Gwen Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D to join a team called the Avengers</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One Where Merlin and Magic Joins the Team

**Author's Note:**

> Written in response to a prompt over on the Merlin Kink Meme. I hope this is what the prompter was after. Not beta'ed currently because I'm about to send my beta my Merlin BB soon and don't want tor swamp her (given she betas for other people as well). This will probably be 6-7 parts depending on the plot bunnies. Hope you like!!!

Merlin sits in the tent, staring down at his hands. His whole life, his whole life he’s been so careful, making sure never to use his magic where others would see it. But he couldn’t just let his squad go down like that, under a hail of gunfire and magic. Not when he could save them.

His magic had just leapt from him, rising up to form a shield, allowing the team enough time to move to cover and the birds to come in and clear the way for them. And now his team will barely look at him, men that he’d saved grateful to him but scared at the same time.

This is why he always hid his magic, because people would always fear what they didn’t understand.

“Lieutenant Emrys?”

The woman’s voice is quiet but strong, and Merlin feels himself react, standing to attention as he takes her in. She’s wearing a grey pants suit with a blue shirt, her curly dark hair up in a bun, warm smile on her face as she stands in front of him, brown eyes meeting his. She’s not afraid, not even slightly, he can tell from her eyes that if anything he interests her, but doesn’t scare her.

“Ma’am,” he replies, giving a small nod.

“You can stand down, solider,” she answers, indicating with one hand for him to sit on his bed, taking a seat on the bed across from him.

“Are you here to discharge me, ma’am?” he asks, swallowing hard. He’s been a solder since he left school, since he lost his mother. It’s all he knows, and now because of who he is, what he is, he’s going to lose it all.

“It’s Agent Gwen Coulson, Lieutenant,” she answers. “And I’m here to debrief you.”

He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t expected the Army to still want him after what had happened. It wasn’t that they would get rid of him, but most magic users went to the Squad, doing things in the dark and secret.

“Debrief me?” Merlin replies, frowning a little in confusion.

“At 1430 today, you used a magical shield to protect yourself and eight other soldiers,” Agent Coulson says, small smile still on her face, Merlin wondering if it’s a mask she wears. A very pretty mask. “A shield that held up against every weapon the enemy had, including the blasts from the birds that were incoming. We haven’t seen that kind of strength in a long time, Lieutenant Emrys.”

“O-okay?” Merlin replies, not quite sure what was going on. Maybe this woman was part of the Squad, maybe that’s why she was really here to ‘debrief’ him before he was forced to join the magical force. Although she didn’t look like she was.

“Lieutenant I have a ... unique opportunity to offer you,” Agent Coulson answers.

“Opportunity?” Merlin asks.

“How would you like to save the world?” she answers, standing up and holding a file, which she pulled from who knew where, out to him. “Everything you need to know is in this file. We have a plane leaving in half an hour. I hope to see you on it.”

With that, she turns and walks out of the tent, not once glancing back at him. Merlin watches her go feeling like he’s just been in a hurricane, completely blown off course. He stares down at the file for a few moments, swallowing hard as he runs a hand over the cover.

He can’t help but think of his mother, wondering what she would say if she was beside him. Hunith had always told him he was meant for great things, that his magic was meant for great things. What would happen if he refused to open the file, if he just ignored it and stayed where he was. Would the Army discharge him, would he go to the Squad? He knew that they wouldn’t keep him here. His team were grateful, but they’d hunted and fought magic users, and would most likely be paranoid because of it.

He didn’t blame them. He would probably be the same if he wasn’t magic himself. He was yet to meet someone like him who didn’t try and kill his squad.

Tapping his fingers on the file, he snorted. There wasn’t really any question, what solider would say no to saving the world? They were fighting for the protection of their country, who wouldn’t fight for the protection of their world? Especially if the other option was going home and trying to figure out what to do from there, or joining the Squad.

Opening the file, his eyes were drawn to the photo of the glowing cube. Tesseract, the title said. His eyes ran over the information, mind whirling the implications of what the small glowing cube could mean. Self-sustaining energy. He’d heard of some crazy billionaire playboy creating something similar called an arc reactor, one of the cleanest energy sources Merlin had ever heard of. But this tesseract would put that reactor out of business, and the implications for the world were stupendous.

Unfortunately, the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division, or S.H.I.E.L.D, had managed to lose the cube to some guy called Mordred. Mordred, who came through a worm hole and stole the cube from S.H.I.E.L.D headquarters, walking away with one of its best agents and scientists.

He freezes when he sees the name of the scientist.

_Gaius._

His old mentor. Who had been teaching him magic and physics before his mother had passed away. Before he went and joined the Armed Forces.

Standing up, he closes the file. He’ll read the rest on the plane. He’s already gotten the gist of what’s going on, and he can figure the rest out on the plane. The one thing he can’t help but wonder about is why S.H.I.E.L.D would want him. Of all the people in the world with magic, why is S.H.I.E.L.D interested in him.

It’s the first thing he asks when he’s on the jet, sitting across from Agent Coulson.

“You have no idea how powerful you are, do you, Lieutenant?” she answers. Before he can respond the feeling of being watched passes over Merlin, his skin erupting in goose bumps, magic wrapping around him like a shield.

It’s then that Merlin notices the other brunette on the plane. Her blue eyes are glued on Merlin, watching him with a focus that makes Merlin shift a little uncomfortably. With her dark hair, pale skin and blue eyes, the woman is nothing short of exquisite … except for the scary intensity the woman’s eyes have. The eyes telling you that while she hasn’t squashed you yet, she could. She’s wearing a dark jumpsuit with boots, and Merlin can’t help but think that it’s an outfit an assassin would wear.

“This is one of my colleagues,” Agent Coulson says, noticing where his eyes are. “And one of yours if you join the team. Her name is Morgana Pendragon, she’s one of S.H.I.E.L.D’s best agents.”

Merlin files that information away, deciding that his initial assessment of her being an assassin probably isn’t too far off the mark.

“Team?” he asks, focusing on the important parts of what Coulson was telling him.

“You didn’t finish the briefing?” Coulson asks, eyes flicking to the file and then back to Merlin’s.

“I read what seemed pertinent at the time,” Merlin answers, feeling a little defensive. The agent seems to realise this, as she raises her hands.

“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, Lieutenant,” she replies, leaning forward. “What did you glean from the packet?”

“You … S.H.I.E.L.D, were in possession of a cube that could harness energy, enough to sustain the world, if you wanted to,” he answers, leaning back in his chair, eyes flicking to Agent Pendragon every now and then, feeling a little uneasy under her gaze. “Enough to form an Einstein Rosen Bridge. Which it did.”

He can see Coulson and Pendragon don’t quite get what he’s talking about, and feels himself relax a little. These people don’t know everything then.

“A worm hole,” he continues, “which this, guy, Mordred, used to come through onto your base and steal the cube. The worm hole it created was unstable though and caused your entire base to be destroyed. And with that kind of power, he could destroy the Earth.”

“He got the basics then,” Morgana says, looking at him with curiosity now.

“And I’m assuming that’s why you’re creating this team?” Merlin asks, looking between the two of them.

“That’s correct,” Coulson answers. “It was something we were going to create a few years ago, but it didn’t come to fruition. Mordred has forced our hand and now we’re creating a team of … extraordinary individuals to protect the world. The boss is calling the team the Avengers.”

“Avengers?” Merlin asks. “Are we protecting the world or avenging it?”

“Both,” Morgana answers, giving him a quick grin, before turning and looking out the window.

“Perhaps you should read the rest of the file, Lieutenant,” Coulson continues, two of her fingers tapping on the file. Merlin stares at her a moment longer, wondering what he’s gotten himself into, before pulling the file towards himself.

Reading through the papers in the file, he learns who the rest of the team will be. He can’t help but feel a little thrill when he reads the name Lancelot Du Lac, Captain America, the living legend himself, feels a rush go through him that the man might be one of his team mates. A super solider that saved the world by sacrificing himself and then surviving being frozen seventy years.

Then there’s Doctor Percival Grant. A brilliant man who’s experiment should’ve killed him, but instead allowed him to turn into a huge, hulking man that could withstand all kinds of weaponry. Powerful in body and mind.

Morgana Pendragon, Black Widow, who he’s already met, and was scared of before he read what she is capable of. Another agent Leon Varne, a brilliant archer who never misses.

Lastly there’s Arthur Pendragon, or Iron Man, as he’s better known as. The genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist who’s so arrogant that he thinks he can take on the world and win. He briefly wonders if Arthur and Morgana are related, noting their surnames, and how many Pendragon’s can there be, before he’s distracted by the feeling of the plane descending.

It doesn’t take too long before they’re landing, Coulson and Morgana unbuckling and making their way out of the jet once the jet’s stopped moving. Merlin follows at a slower pace, wondering if he’s doing the right thing, before he remembers Gaius.

Taking a deep breath he steps off the plane and can’t help but stare at the carrier around him. He’d been expecting an office or large non-descript building. A carrier almost feels like home turf for him and he can’t help but relax a little as he follows the two women across the ship.

“Lieutenant Merlin Emrys, this is Doctor Percival Grant,” Coulson introduces when they meet an awkward looking man standing near the door to the deck of the ship. Percival is huge, tall and bulky, even though he seems to be small at first glance, hiding it by slouching and ducking his head. Merlin can’t begin to imagine what the Hulk must look like if this is what the ‘ordinary’ man looks like.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Merlin says, holding his hand out. Percival stares at him for a moment, before reaching out shaking his hand. Merlin’s hand is dwarfed by the Doctor’s, and Merlin wonders how the man can seem so small when he’s clearly not.

“Nice to meet you too, Lieutenant,” Percival replies, small smile on his face. “Please call me Percy.”

“Merlin,” Merlin answers. “So they convinced you to join the team too?”

“No,” Percy says, ducking his head and running a hand through his hair. “I’m just here to locate the tesseract. Bad things happen when I … suit up so to speak.”

Coulson ushers them inside after that and to the main deck. Merlin watches through the windows as the carrier becomes air born, his stomach dropping a little at the sensation, before righting itself, as the ship disappears into the air.

He’s not sure what he’s gotten himself into.


	2. Captain America and Iron Man

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow! Huge thanks to everyone who read/commented/kudos/subscribed to the first chapter. You guys rock. Also sorry this has taken so long to get up. Unfortunately real life had other ideas when I wanted to write.

“Lieutenant.”

Standing to attention, Merlin looks straight ahead, not turning to look at the Director. He hasn’t ever seen the man before, but the rumour of the ‘Dragon’, Director Kilgarrah, has even reached the British Army, and he’s curious to see what the man looks like.

“You can relax, Lieutenant,” the man says, coming into Merlin’s line of vision. He isn’t what Merlin had expected, short cropped grey hair, small beard, one eye covered with a black eye patch. “I’m not going to bite.”

“Yes, Sir,” Merlin replies, allowing his arms to relax, his stance widening slightly.

“You know why you’re here, Emrys?” Kilgarrah asks, sitting down behind his desk.

“Agent Coulson said something about a team and saving the world?” Merlin answers, meeting the man’s eye.

“I don’t know how much of a ‘team’ we have, but she’s right about saving the world.”

Kilgarrah stares at him for a long moment, before indicating for him to sit. Merlin hesitates for a second, before deciding that he might as well be comfortable. He’s not in the Army anymore. At least he doesn’t think he is, he really should’ve asked Coulson about that before jumping on the plane with her and possibly going AWOL.

“You’re currently on loan to us from the British Army,” the Director says, almost as if he can read Merlin’s mind. “And the reason is because we’ve only seen magic like yours once before, and that was when we encountered Mordred. Or as the Norse people knew him, Loki.”

“Loki, as in the Norse God of Mischief?” Merlin asks.

Kilgarrah nods his head, eyes sparkling, as if Merlin has somehow lived up to something the Director was expecting.

Before Kilgarrah can continue, and give Merlin more reasons to question his decision, Coulson sticks her head in the door.

“We’ve got a hit on Mordred, Sir,” she says, before ducking out again. Kilgarrah doesn’t spare him a glance as he stands and makes his way out the door. Merlin waits a few seconds, before deciding that he might as well follow the man, he’s here to be a part of the team after all. And what kind of team member would he be if he didn’t know what was going on?

“What’ve we got?” Kilgarrah says, as they walk onto the main deck of the ship. Merlin can’t help but stare around at all the computers and people, realising this must be the control centre. One man in particular grabs his attention, with his brown hair, and leather jacket, strong features making Merlin want to reach out and touch him.

It isn’t until he walks further onto the deck and gets a good look at the man that he realises who he’s looking at.

Captain America.

Captain America is standing next to him, looking all chiselled and gorgeous and … openly staring at Agent Coulson. Well, it really was too much to hope the gorgeous, perfect man would swing his way.

“Eighty nine percent facial recognition match,” one of the agents sitting in front of a computer says. “He’s in Europe, one of the museum galas that Aulfric Trimor is throwing.”

“Any sign of Varne?”

Merlin almost jumps when he hears Morgana’s voice, turning around and seeing the woman striding onto the deck. At first glance her face looks the impassive mask he’d seen earlier, but there’s something that flashes in her eyes, hope and fear, that catches Merlin’s attention.

Interesting. He wonders who Varne is to her.

“Guess you boys are up quicker than I thought,” Kilgarrah says, turning around and facing Merlin and Captain Du Lac.

“Captain Lancelot Du Lac, meet Lieutenant Merlin Emrys. You’ll both be going after Mordred together, along with Agent Pendragon.”

“Suit up, gentleman.”

Merlin almost jumps when someone moves up beside him, and the Captain is far more attractive up close, which really isn’t fair.

“Lieutnent, it’s a pleasure,” Captian Du Lac says, holding out his hand.

“It’s Merlin, Captain,” Merlin replies, reaching out and shaking the man’s hand. “And the pleasure’s mine, Sir. It will be an honour serving together.”

“Please call me Lance,” Captain Du Lac answers. “How about we go get the bad guy?”

Grinning, Merlin follows the Captain off the deck and towards the change rooms. He can’t help but stare when he sees the Captain America uniform, the little geek inside of him that had collected the man’s cards dancing at just the sight of it.

“Don’t think you’re getting out of having a uniform.”

Merlin jumps at the soft voice in his ear, whirling around to see Morgana lounging against the door way, arms crossed over her chest.

“Excuse me?” he asks, trying to stop his heart from racing.

Morgana’s lips curl a little, Merlin wondering if that’s as close to a smile as she gets. Morgana uncurls one arm and points off to the side, Merlin following where she’s pointing, his stomach dropping as he sees the tight black outfit behind the glass.

“No.”

“Company policy, Emrys,” Morgana replies walking towards him and throwing an arm around his shoulders, before steering him towards the outfit.

“You can’t be serious,” he answers, looking over at where Lance has finished getting into his uniform, looking every part the hero. If he puts on that tight black outfit, he’s going to look ridiculous next to him. All scrawny and small and pathetic.

“You want to argue, take it up with Gwen,” Morgana says, lips still curled, amusement clear in her eyes. “But we leave in four minutes, Emrys. Do you really want to be whinging to her or saving the world?”

With that she turns and leaves, Merlin unable to not notice how spectacular she looks in her tight black outfit. If he had her figure, he wouldn’t mind wearing it either.

“It’s not about what you look like, Merlin.” He hears Lance say, a warm hand dropping onto his shoulder. “It’s about being part of a team, being able to recognise each other, and feeling connected.”

Looking up into the man’s warm, brown eyes, Merlin can’t find any of the arguments that had been percolating in his head. There’s just something about the other man that makes you want to be your best, that makes you want the man to be proud of you. He wonders if everyone feels the way he feels in Captain America’s presence.

“I’ll see you out there,” Lance continues, giving him an encouraging smile, before leaving.

Sighing, Merlin looks at the black outfit in resignation. Morgana had pretty much convinced him that he was going to wear the outfit. The whole ‘saving the world’ thing something he couldn’t ignore. But now that Lance has been all … insightful and encouraging, he can’t possible say no.

Pulling his shirt off, he decides it could be worse, he could’ve been changing when Lance was. Now that really would’ve shot his confidence to hell.

**

When they get to where Mordred was sighted, Merlin can’t help but suck in a breath at the sight that greets him. A whole crowd of people on their knees, four images of the same man standing around them, a dangerous looking sceptre in his hand, the centre of it a ball of light that looks similar to what the tessarect looked like.

“I hate the one’s with god complexes,” Morgana mutters, as she brings the plane level. Lance jumps out and onto the ground, and Merlin sends a disbelieving look at Morgana before following the man. He rolls as he hits the ground, remembering his training, but it doesn’t stop him from hurting a little, groan leaving him.

When he gets to his feet, Lance is fighting Mordred, Merlin unable to stop himself from staring at the strength he’s seeing. Mordred might not look like much, as skinny and scrawny as Merlin is, but the sceptre and his magic, magic Merlin can feel in the air, make him as dangerous as Lance with all his strength.

“Might be a good idea if you got into the middle of things, Wiz,” Morgana’s voice says in his ear. “You’re not here to be a fanboy.”

He glares at the plane for a second; sure that Morgana will see it, before moving towards the fight. He’s never really used his magic as a weapon before, it just flowing through him when he needed it most, never a conscious decision on his part. So he’s not sure exactly what to do.

In the end, he decides that if he wills his magic to do what he wants, maybe it will. So he focuses on Mordred, focuses on throwing him away from Lance, and can’t help but gape as his magic does. Mordred is on his feet in seconds, his eyes searching before they fall on Merlin.

Merlin feels a slimy sensation crawl over his skin when their eyes meet, Mordred’s blue eyes narrowing, even as a cruel smirk crosses his face.

“Really,” he says, grinning at Merlin and then at Lance. “Did you really think one of your wizards could match me?”

Before Merlin can respond, he feels something slam into him, his magic wrapping around him as he’s thrown back with a force that would probably have him breaking bones if it weren’t for the magical shield that’s wound itself around him.

Even with the shield, his breath is still squeezed from his lungs, Merlin staring up at the starlit sky for a few seconds, before he can sit himself up. When he does, he forces himself to his feet, needing to stop Mordred from hurting Lance, the Norse God, holding the Captain down on his knees with his sceptre.

Before he can struggle a few feet, he can’t help but wonder if he hit his head harder than he thought when he hears ACDC in his ear where his comm unit is.

“Did you miss me, Sis?”

Merlin’s eyes are caught by a bright light, eyes widening as it slowly turns out to be attached to a man, clearly the owner of the low voice that Merlin’s just heard in his ears. The one that may have made him shiver a little.

The man figure turns out to be Iron Man. Who proceeds to blast Mordred off his feet and onto his back.

“Make your move, I dare you,” Iron Man says, Merlin stumbling out onto the courtyard next to Lance. Mordred looks between the three of them, before slowly raising his hands.

Merlin can’t help but feel the capture was too easy, the demi-god going too easily, not struggling at all. There’s clearly something else going on here, something Mordred wants that they have, or that he needs to know.

He follows Morgana, Lance and Iron Man onto the plane, not once letting his eyes drift away from Mordred, feeling like he could figure out what the other man wanted if he looked hard enough.

“Hope you’re not planning to set him on fire with your eyes, cos he’s the only lead we have to the tesseract.”

The low voice pulls Merlin’s eyes away from Mordred and to Iron Man, or rather Arthur Pendragon, who is far better looking in person than the pictures he’s seen in the paper. His blonde hair is plastered to his forehead, but it doesn’t take away from the elegant lines of the man’s face, the bright blue eyes, and the smile that has Merlin a little weak at the knees.

“What is the civilian doing here anyway?” he continues, turning to look at Lance. “He wasn’t in the files. What, are we just letting anyone join now? Did you put an ad in the paper? I thought there was a criteria?”

And just like that, Merlin remembers all the articles about how arrogant the Pendragon billionaire is. The man really is a Prat.

“Merlin’s here because he has a certain skill set,” Morgana says, sending Arthur a glare. “Which we can discuss once we’ve dropped off the cargo.”

Arthur stares at Merlin a moment longer, before turning his back on him. Rolling his eyes, Merlin tears his eyes away from the arrogant prat and looks out the front window. He can’t help but frown as he sees the storm clouds gathering, lightening striking close to the plane.

“Where did this come from?” he asks, moving forwards, standing just behind Morgana, looking at the grey clouds that have blocked out the stars.

“I don’t know,” Morgana mutters.

“Don’t tell me you’re scared of a little lightening?” He hears Lance ask, turning and seeing Mordred looking warily up at the lighting.

“I’m not overly fond of what follows after,” Mordred answers, still looking up.

As if waiting for those words, Merlin hears a loud bang on the roof of the jet, his heart racing as he wonders if they’ve been hit by the lightening. For some reason Arthur decides that the most logical thing is to open the jet, and Merlin can’t help but gasp as a man flies in.

The first thing he notices about the man is his flowing brown hair. Merlin’s read about heroes with flowing brown hair before, how it swishes and moves elegantly when they toss their head, he’s just never realised that people actually had hair like that.

It’s then he notices that the man has the face to match the hair, all elegant lines, with deep brown eyes, and pouting mouth. He’s dressed in an outfit that’s shiny metal and long flowing red cape, and he’s holding a massive hammer in one hand.

And then the god like man is grabbing Mordred and jumping out of the jet. Then Arthur is activating his visor and jumping out of the jet, with Lance grabbing a parachute and joining them. He looks back at Morgana, who gives him a glare.

“You’re staying on the jet,” she says, eyes narrowing, before she turns around and focuses on flying again.


End file.
